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need advise please help

after watching the sm videos realised my ruby was showing lots of the symtoms of sm the yelping when jumping up for no reason the rubbing face constant licking episodes and constant scratting on the left ear and curvature on touching that paticular side which causes her scratch shes also started to moan on walks and cannot go very far now or she is sick i knew deep in my heart there was somthing wrong she has been on many many differant ear drops and food to try to eleviate allergys by my vets but after looking at all your great advise i realised it could be sm she went to the vets today as shes itched that much lately she caused a sore lump under her chin so i downloaded the symtoms and took them with me he checked her over poor thing moving her neck around but said i cannot see any pain symtoms them started to say it could be her ears well im fed up with this so i gave him the sheet id printed off and said i think she maybe have sm at first he said it is very rare and gave her a examination but she started itching when he touch her sensative side and itching to the point where she fell on the floor then his attitude changed he has given her a steroid injection and told me to watch her and phone back next week and tell him if it helped do any of you think this will help she seems a little better not itched as much since weve come home fingers crosses but will he know if its sm if it dose help her sorry for the long post just very mixed up and worried at the moment any help would be great

rubys mom

have emailed you linderbella thankyou need plenty of good advise at minute really really sad your post was very helpfull to me not sure whats going to happen after i give the vet a call back next week im not sure if the steroid should have worked so quick but it dose seem that its calmed her down a bit should this have happened

I am sorry to hear you are having these concerns. A steroid injection will actually help SM symptoms -- it is one f the stronger drugs that will quickly alleviate symptoms but the problem is that you really only want a dog to remain on this when all other options are exhausted for treatment, because the side affects of long term steroid use can be severe and unwanted. Steroids would also help allergies etc -- but you are seeing such a range of extreme symptoms and distress that really you probably will want to see a neurologist if every other option has been tried to find a source of the scratching. Dogs do not always show obvious signs of pain -- my Leo has what is now considered a large syrinx yet only about once a month or two does he actually become so sensitive that he will whimper when touched in certain places. But he scratches to a degree that he ha removed about half the hair from his ear -- similar to your dog's chin. If scratching is that uncomfortable then neurologists do feel they are scratching to address extreme discomfort. Leo is managed well so far on a mix of a CSF inhibitor and gabapentin and I will be upping his gabapentin dose on his next prescription to see if his ears will recover as the extra scratching is definitely a sign of further pain and/or discomfort for him.

You do need a neurologist though to at least do a basic exam and give a professional opinion and recommend a medical approach, discuss a possible MRI, and the option of surgery. A vet is not really qualified to be making a diagnosis of this condition -- it is a specialist's condition but I'd steer your vet to do a search for the considerable body of evidence and published papers now that indicate SM is actually not a rare condition at all in cavaliers.

rubys mom

thankyou for advise karlin do i ask the vet to refer me to a neurologist or do i do i contact one myself, your so right about it not being rare in cavaliers i think after i let him read the download i printed off from this site and he actually saw the signs it was obvious to him this wasnt just another ear infection i must say ive just put her to bed and shes been really calm im very pleased at the minute hopefully now we can get some help for the poor little mite its been a really prolonged thing for her she has had a few problems along the way but this time im stick my heels in and going to get some help and hopefully open his eyes for others at my vets

rubys mom

just a short post i rang the vets back this morning and told him the jab of steroids worked up untill about saturday but rubys as now returned back to the scratting and face rubbing the paw licking has started today as well so looks like its wore off now ive got an appointment tomorrow to see him again will let you know what he has to say im really nervous i know really but still dosent help gonna push to see a neurologist if he dosent

rubys mom

took ruby back to the vets today she been given another steroid jab and put on some tablets for two weeks to control the discomfort ive been told a neurologist mri scan would cost about 1500 and he wants to refer her to one but ive looked and there are redused rate mri scans so im going to tell him ill contact one myself as i think 1500 is quite a lot of money but shes felling a lot better at the moment so at least i can try and get her to someone within the two weeks then hopefully get her on the right medication